Boasting a 100 per cent record at home in the Premier League this season, had City shown a modicum of consistency on the road, instead of rolling over like obliging labradors, the title race would be over already.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side trail Arsenal by three points, but showed why they, and not Arsene Wenger’s side, are the favourites for the title, with this brutal dissection.

Defeats at Cardiff, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Sunderland plus draws at Stoke and Southampton, have undermined City’s campaign and conspired to keep them off top spot.

But it is surely only a matter of time before they reach the summit if they can find the same ruthlessness at lesser teams as they do at home against the elite.

Samir Nasri said: “We’re really confident. But we always seem to perform well against one of the big teams.

Finding his groove: Nasri has been in superb form this season (Image: Action Images)

“We did it against Manchester United, Tottenham, against Bayern in midweek and now we’ve done it against Arsenal.

“Now we have to do it away from home, because we’ve struggled from the start of the season to perform as well away as we do at home.

“When we play a big game it is easy to get the motivation. Big players always respond when it’s a big game.

“But now we know the title race is open. We’ve come back to three points behind Arsenal and next week they play Chelsea, so we have to keep the pressure on them.

“I’m not worried who we get in the Champions League. I don’t think they Real Madrid or Barcelona will be happy to play Manchester City.

“But if I had to pick the draw, of course I would go for Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid or Borussia Dortmund.

“I don’t want to play Real or Barcelona. But if we do get them, they will be worried about us.

“Everyone will look at this game and when you see a team perform like we did – on top of what we did against Bayern – you are a little bit worried about playing us.”

Nasri said his former Arsenal team-mates acknowledged afterwards what a formidable unit Pellegrini’s side were.

City have scored 47 goals in 16 Premier League outings this season, at an average of 2.93 a game. If can maintain that scoring rate, they will beat Chelsea’s Premier League record of 103, set in the 2009-10 campaign, an average of 2.71 per game.